Critical

Appreciation

The Elegy is one of the greatest and finest of Gray's poems and marks a stage in the
development of his poetic genius. It reveals a growing democratic sentiment and
romantic mood of the poet. Instead of confining himself to the saloons, coffee houses or
the fashionable society of the town, Gray undertakes in this poem to deal with the life of
the rustic people of the village, to present the 'short and simple annals of the poor'. Wit its
lyricism, its treatment of nature, its melancholic mood and its emotional and imaginative
vigour, the Elegy reveals a romantic spirit and marks a shift from the neoclassical poetry
of the Augustan age, towards the Romantic poetry of the coming age. It is essentially
transitional
in
character
and
ushers
in
the
era
of
romanticism.
Universal Appeal: There is little originality or novelty of thought or sentiment expressed
in the Elegy. It expresses the feeling for the common man, which everybody has. The
poet's views about death as an inevitable fact of life, are quite common. The presentation
of the contrast between the destiny of the rich and the poor, is based on conventional
views. The thought about fame and obscurity, human ambition and pride are quite old
too. The Elegy abounds in what Tennyson calls 'divine truisms that make us weep'.
However, Gray has lent great force to these common thoughts and truisms through his
unique expression that they have become universally appealing. The universal appeal of
the poem is an important source of its greatness and popularity. The commonest man
finds the Elegy echoing his own feelings and sentiments. The poem transcends the limits
of time and place, and appeals to people everywhere and in all times.
Originality: Despite its treatment of common themes and sentiments, the poem is not
totally devoid of originality. Dr. Johnson acknowledges the originality of the four stanzas
beginning 'yet even these bones'. Gray's originality and individual talent may be seen in
his condensed expression of great ideas in highly quotable phrases like " Full many a
flower blush to die unseen" and "On some fond breast the parting soul relies". Herbert W
Starr points out " probably no other poem of the same length has contributed so many
famous phrases to our language." Gray's originality also lies in the fact that he raised the
voice of democratic sympathy much before the French or the American revolution,
aiming at the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity, had taken place. He may be said to
have inspired the democratic sentiments of Wordsworth who, much later, wrote about
poor rustics like Michael, the leech gatherer and the wagoner. Carl J Webber remarks
"Thomas Gray is the pioneer literary spokesman for the ordinary man, the patron saint of
the unknown soldier... . Gray's rude forefathers were also the forefathers of Wordsworth's
Wagoner,
Michael
and
Peterbell."
Gray's originality also lies in his treatment of the non fulfillment of the desires of
common man and the non utilisation of his powers and talents because of lack of proper
opportunities. The poem may be called an elegy on the premature death of the talents and
energies of the poor. Another mark of Gray's originality is, that instead of addressing it to

the rich, great or privileged men, he addresses this poem about common man to common
men and seeks to elicit a sympathetic response for their common lot. The adoption of the
elegiac quatrain in place of the conventional heroic couplet and the novel use of abstract
personifications
also
reveal
Gray's
originality.
Humanity & Democratic Sentiments: The Elegy is remarkable for its humanity and its
concern for the lot of common human beings on this earth. It may be put alongwith
Keats's Ode to a Nightingale, which deals with the lot of man on this earth. Although it
hints at the inevitability of the end of all human glory and the futility of power, wealth,
ambition and pride, it is mainly concerned with the destiny of the common man and
seems to lament the loss and waste of so much talent and energy of the poor because of
lack of opportunity. A note of exultation may also be found in Gray's view that if poverty
proved hinderance in the way of the advancement of the common rustic people, it also
restrained them from doing evil and practising violence to gain material ends.
The democratic note may be found in the poem in the form of idea of equality and
helplessness of both the rich and the poor before death. Death is a great leveller. If it
deprives the poor of the opportunities ton rise, it also mercilessly snatches the power and
the glory of the rich. Both alike await the inevitable hour of death and both feel helpless
to do anything. The vanity of human wishes and aspirations has been nicely pointed out
in the poem. The distinction between the lives of the rich and the poor is thus obliterated
by
death.
Melancholic Note: The Elegy is characterised by a melancholic note. The dominant mood
of the poem is one of gloom and sadness. The shadow of death hovers throughout the
poem and the regret over the frustration of human efforts and hopes is inherent in its tone.
The opening scene of the poem is steeped in melancholy and the musings on human
destiny in the later parts are also of melancholic nature. The description of the rustic poet
also gives a gloomy picture of his life. Thus, the whole atmosphere and mood of the
poem is tinged with melancholy. According to W V Moody and R M Lovett the Elegy "is
the finest flower of that literature of melancholy Which Gray may be said to be haunted
by a Hamlet like melancholy and sense of frustration. The thirty two stanzas of the poem
embody almost all the emotions and reflections that a man commonly feels in the
presence
of
death.
Personal & Autobiographical Element: Besides being an expression of general or
universal feelings and sentiments, and dealing with the lot of the common man,
the Elegycontains some autobiographical or personal elements. It deals with the life,
destiny and anticipated death of the poet himself. He was, as Gray shows in the Elegy, a
man of melalancholy and wayward disposition, who lived a secluded life 'far from the
madding crowd's ignoble strife.' He was, as he tells in the Epitaph, of humble birth and
lived a life of obscurity and seclusion. In spite of his birth in a poor family, he had
acquired much knowledge and learning but remained unknown of fame and fortune. He

was sincere and had great gifts of mind and heart. Living a melancholic life, he faced
much
misery
and
had
to
shed
tears
frequently.
Unlike the neo classical poetry, the Elegy deals with the poet's personal feelings and
reflects his own mood like romantic poetry. In the original draft of the poem, consisting
of twenty two stanzas, quantity of personal references was less than what it is in the
expanded
version.
Moral Tone: The Elegy is didactic in nature and seeks to convey certain morals about
human life. Gray exhorts the proud and ambitious people not to laugh at the simple life
and obscure destiny of the poor. He tells them that they are much like the poor that they
also have to die one day and leave all their glory, wealth and luxuries in this world. The
poem lays emphasis on the transitoriness of all human glory and the emptiness of all
boasts of power and wealth. It also points out the inevitability of death. Gray seems to
impress upon us the idea that being poor is not altogether a matter of misfortune. The
poor are fortunate in that they do not have to shut the gates of mercy on their fellow
beings as the great men have to do.
Technical Beauties: The Elegy is remarkable for its simplicity of expression, and Gray
says in it plainly what he has to say. There is nothing in the poem which can be called
extraordinary but there is what I A Richards terms "that triumph of an exquisitely
adjusted tone." The poet gives a perfect expression to his feelings and sentiments. Several
critics tend to criticise the Elegy on account of its common places and truisms. These
common places are good and have what Graham Hough believes to be 'their compulsive
force'. In them, Gray has generalised his personal views and reflections. According to
Hough "they are compelling because they are not only what they first appear, majestic
statements about the common lot: they are also the solution of Gray's personal problem,
and perhaps the only one possible in his day."
The Elegy possesses qualities like the stately measure of its verse, and the wonderful
felicity and perfection of its style. It contains the neoclassical qualities like allusiveness,
alliteration, personification and a dignified manner. TheElegy has not the delicate
shadowiness of 'Ode to Evening' and its monumental style and weight of thinking seem
beyond Collins. The verse of the Elegy is polished and musical and has a haunting
quality.
The reflections on life and death make the Elegy a philosophical poem but it is also a sort
of dramatic monologue in which the speaker has addressed imaginary readers or listeners.
The poem is a formalised composition and has a rhetorical condensed expression.
Historically speaking, the Elegy marks a shift from the neo classicism of the 18th century
to the romanticism of the early 19th century. It foreshadows the romantic poetry of
Burns, Wordsworth, Shelley and others.

Despite its melancholic tone and its harping on the transitoriness of human glory, it
would be difficult to agree with Lyly Glazier's view about the Elegy that "the net effect of
the whole poem is negative and fatalistic." We may find the positive effect of the poem in
the fact that it does not glorify death. It lays emphasis on a desire for immortality
signified by the desire to be remembered or to perpetuate human by memorials.
It presents a faithful account of the human condition on this earth, and if that condition
turns out to be gloomy, Gray is not to be blamed for this. To him goes the credit for
pointing out not only the obscurity of life of the poor, but also their good luck in having
escaped, through death, the acts of cruelty and violence that they might have committed
had they lived longer.
The Elegy is certainly a great poem. Its universal appeal, its humanity and its broader
concern with the human condition are as much contributive to its greatness as its poetic
merits. Different factors may be said responsible for its greatness. To conclude it may
suffice to quote Douglas Bush who has nicely summed up its greatness, he remarks, "one
obvious reason is power of style which makes almost every line an example of 'what oft
was thought but never so well expressed.' Images, though generalised, can be nonetheless
evocative. The antitheses are more than antitheses; they are a succession of dynamic and
ironic contrast between ways and views of life. And all this inward force comes from a
full sensibility working under precise control. In its combination of personal attachment
and involvement, as well as in its generalise texture, the Elegy is in some sense an 18th
century Lycidas."